Evaluation of bone loss in diabetic postmenopausal women

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis and diabetes mellitus are major and growing public health problems particularly among postmenopausal women. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between osteoporosis and osteopenia with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) in postmenopausal women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In a cross sectional study, we compared 200 diabetic postmenopausal women with 400 non-diabetic postmenopausal women over the age of 60 years. Age, Body Mass Index (BMI), T score of the lumbar vertebra (L2-L4) and femoral neck were measured with Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) and were compared between the two groups. Hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) was also measured in patients with type 2 DM and its relationship with osteoporosis was studied. Chi-square, Fisher's exact test and Independent T-test was used for analyzing the data. The statistical significance was set at a P value of 0.05 or lower. RESULTS: Mean, SD ages were 65.23 ± 4.80 vs. 66.91 ± 5.78 years and BMI were 28.94 ± 4.06 vs. 31.65 ± 4.42 kg/m(2) in non-diabetic and diabetic groups, respectively. Lumber T scores was -2.10 ± 1.08 vs.-2.16 ± 1.27 (P = 0.60), femoral neck T-score was -0.72 ± 1.00 vs. -1.09 ± 0.96 (P = 0.00) in non-diabetic and diabetic groups, respectively. There was a significant difference in femoral neck T score between the diabetic and non-diabetic group (P = 0.00). In diabetic women, bone loss was more common in those with HbA1C ≥7 compare to those with HbA1C <7 (P = 0.006). CONCLUSION: Osteopenia and osteoporosis is more common in diabetic postmenopausal women compare to the non-diabetic postmenopausal women.